Port Huron woman charged with making false rape report

Saturday, May 4, 2013

PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) ó A 38-year-old woman has been charged with falsely reporting a rape at her eastern Michigan home, five months after a man convicted of sexually assaulting her in a different case was released from prison because of similar reports of bogus allegations.

Sara Ylen told police last September that she was raped at her Lexington home, 80 miles northeast of Detroit. But she has been charged with filing a false report of a felony and tampering with evidence.

Ylen was released on bond after appearing Thursday in a St. Clair County court. She couldnít be reached for comment Saturday, and it wasnít known if she has an attorney.

Sanilac County Sheriff Garry Biniecki told the Port Huron Times Herald that Ylenís alleged bruises were created with makeup.

The Associated Press doesnít name victims of sexual assault. But Ylen has talked freely to the Times Herald about another case, the prosecution of James Grissom. She told the newspaper she wanted to be identified and speak publicly as a rape victim.

Despite no physical evidence, Grissom was convicted in 2003 of raping Ylen outside a Meijer store in St. Clair County and sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.

The case changed dramatically when evidence emerged after the trial that Ylen had lied about as many as nine assaults in California before the alleged 2001 rape in Michigan. Grissomís attorney didnít have that information to possibly challenge her credibility at trial.

Judge Cynthia Lane said Ylen had ďconcocted incredible storiesĒ and threw out Grissomís conviction in 2012. The prosecutor declined to put him through another trial, and Grissom was released from prison in November after nearly 10 years.